The first thing I heard when I stepped into the office was Darren yelling, "Liam, tell me you're not one of them!"

I approached the guys, unbuttoning my coat. "It's fucking freezing outside. Hey guys, and what do you mean, Dar?"

"Your buddy's engaged."

"Yeah, he is." I nodded.

Focusing my eyes on Aiden, I noticed something that hadn't been there before- the ring on his finger. "That's new," I said.

"Ellie gave it to me some days ago."

I smiled at my friend. "Really? That's awesome."

"It is. Thanks."

Thoughts of Sky and last night, Sky and this morning made it hard for me to focus. I was still thinking about her when I heard Darren's voice.

"I've just realized something."

Looking at him, Ollie asked, "Realized what?"

"We've never been out together. I mean, all of us. It's all work, problems, deadlines. Maybe what we need is to relax and get to know each other better out of the office. Besides, you and Aiden are both engaged. That's a valid reason for a celebration."

I knew where Dar was coming from. We'd been busy for the last couple of weeks. That generated stress and arguments, making the guys snap at each other.

Ollie scratched his head. "Well, you might be right, but when?"

With a grin, Darren replied, "Tomorrow. Liam, Aiden, are you guys in?"

I wanted to spend time with Sky, but saying yes was the right thing to do. After all, we were junior project managers. Team building was important. I shrugged. "Sure. Tim is on a weekend trip with his class. Aiden, you're tagging along, right?"

Aiden nodded. "Alright."

"Awesome, gentlemen, get ready for an epic outing," Darren rubbed his palms together.

"And may the gods help us all," muttered Ollie, and his best buddy smacked his head with an industry magazine.

***
Luckily, the rest of the work day went by fast. "Are you going home now?" I asked Aiden when we were done.

"Not right now. It's the last day of Ellie's exams. I wanted to get takeout to celebrate and buy her flowers."

"Downtown?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. Mind if I go with you?" I asked, hoping to talk to him.

"Not at all." Aiden put on his coat and took his things before we walked to the elevators.

I stared at the car keys in my hand as we started the descent. "Listen, Aiden."

"What?"

I exhaled and looked at the guy. "I've been thinking, and I might do it."

"Do what?"

"Try it with Sky. I want to have a go at it. Maybe you're right, and we could be in a relationship. I want to ask her on a date and see where we go from there."

Aiden grinned. "About time."

I felt bad for wording the whole thing this way. Techically, Sky and I had been in a relationship for a while, but it wasn't official. What I wanted was to be able to kiss her in front of our friends and hold her hand without sneaking around. After last night, we grew close. I didn't see the point in taking it slow anymore, and pretending she was my friend would be impossible.

"Do you think she will say yes?" I asked my buddy. Hell, I hoped she would. I would hate it if Sky rejected me.

"Why wouldn't she?" asked Aiden.

I groaned, resting my head against the mirrored wall of the elevator. "I don't know. I never know with her, I swear, but if I don't try it, I might lose my mind."

"I don't think she will reject you, Liam. Do you want to go downtown in my car? We could drive to work together on Monday."

"Okay, " I said.

I was restless on the car ride downtown. Aiden smirked, glancing at me, surely enjoying my nervous fidgeting.

We walked into a traditional restaurant in Latin Quarter. It wasn't expensive, and the food was excellent. I would've bought something too, but I was thinking about going out with Sky and ask her to be my girl in the same restaurant where we had dinner when we went out for the first time.

Aiden placed a takeout order with the waiter and got ready to wait. I grabbed my phone, and typed places to see in Paris into the search bar. If Sky agreed to go on a date with me, it would be different this time. She would be my girlfriend and I wanted to make the experience memorable for her.

Aiden was sipping his espresso as he leaned against the bar counter. I shoved the phone in my pocket and faced him.

"I've been looking at some places where I could take Sky. What do you think?"

The guy shrugged. "You know her better, man. What does she like?"

I smiled. "I'd say a walk somewhere beautiful and a good meal. Sky loves pastries; I could take her to a pâtisserie as well. God, this is so weird," I added with a chuckle.

And then, for some strange reason, my stupid eyes decided to roam the restaurant, and I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces.

Sky was there, at a table in the back. The guy she was with, her ex, smiled at her with his forehead pressed to hers and his hand on her neck. They looked like a fucking couple in love, and I couldn't fathom how she could do this to me after last night.

Did she use me to prove to herself that she could feel things only to get back with him? Was I some fucking experiment? How long had she been planning to do it?

The pain in my chest was real. I'd never have thought I could feel this way, so damn broken. When Vicky kissed that guy in front of me it didn't hurt nearly as much, and now I struggled to breathe.

Aiden was done, putting away the change the waiter had given him.

"Forget what I've told you. It won't be necessary," I told him.

Aiden frowned. "What do you mean, Liam?"

"Look yourself. I'm fucking out of here."

I darted out of the restaurant, ordering my eyes not to look in Sky's direction.

My vision was blurry as I paced along the sidewalk, waiting for Aiden.

He was next to me in a while, looking uncomfortable. "Fuck, Liam, I'm sorry."

I clenched my teeth. "Are you done? If you are, let's go."

"I need to get the flowers; it's on the way home. Man, we should talk about that shit."

"Talk about what, Aiden?" I raised my voice, the anger taking over me. "Should we talk about how I punched that dick's face because of what he did to Sky, only to have her run back to him? I could've been arrested, and I never take risks because of Tim. I'm the only person he can count on, for fuck's sake."

Aiden sighed. "Let's talk in the car."

"You're right, I've already made a fool of myself once today. I don't know what the hell I was thinking," I grumbled. I made a fool out of myself today and yesterday, and every time I kissed her. It wasn't me she wanted.

Aiden and I got into his car and he got ready to drive. "You didn't make a fool of yourself. Wanting something with someone isn't stupid," Aiden said, inserting the key in the ignition.

I said nothing. What could I say? I wouldn't stoop low and badmouth Sky, and I wasn't going to admit that we were way closer than my friends thought.

"Thanks for the ride, man," I said to Aiden when we were next to our building. "Tim is out till Sunday evening. I'll grab my things and stay at Jeff's. I can't be home with her."

"Maybe you two should talk, Liam."

"No. I'm not going there. I can't, Aiden. Not again."

"What do you mean, not again?"

I swallowed, hating the tears that were threatening to escape my eyes, embarrassing me. "I mean that I'll cool off, stay at Jeff's and tomorrow we'll go out with the office guys. Sky didn't see me, only the prick did."

"She saw me, Liam," Aiden said.

"And you won't tell Ellie I was with you, got it?"

Aiden sighed as he grabbed his stuff and got out of the car. "Things don't have to be so fucking complicated, man."

"Welcome to my life, buddy. Go spend time with your girl, celebrate, and forget what you've seen. It's nothing." I shrugged, walking into the foyer of our building, wiping at my eyes.

I made sure that Aiden didn't see my face as we rode in the elevator. I got out on my floor and let my friend go home.

Sky's smell was everywhere in the apartment. Looking at my bed where I held her made me want to sob like a pathetic loser. Unable to stand it any longer, I grabbed my gym bag and stuffed some clothes into it.

I was planning to crash at Jeff's and stay there long enough to decide what the hell I was going to do now. I would have to be back on Saturday night after going out with the office guys.

I wished I didn't have to see her. I wished I hadn't met her. I wished it didn't hurt so much.

I shrugged on my leather jacket and sent a text to Jeff, telling him I was on my way to his place, and I needed somewhere to stay. He responded with an okay, and I wasted no time exiting the apartment filled with Sky's scent and memories of the two of us.

***

"Hey." Jeff opened the door to his place and stepped aside to let me in.

"You look like shit. What's up, boy?"

"Good to see you too. Everything is okay. I need a drink."

Jeff scratched the back of his head. "Sure. We can talk, it's just that I have some company."

I groaned. "Fuck. A date?"

Jeff laughed. "I wish. Jenn, Emma, and Charlie are here. We were having some drinks. I told them you were coming."

"I'm not in the mood for a party," I said to Jeff, lowering my voice. "I just want something to drink. Don't mind me."

Sighing, Jeff shrugged. "Okay. The spare bedroom is yours. Come say hello at least. We haven't seen you at the gym in a while."

"My bad. I've been busy."

Jeff grinned. "With Sky, I presume."

Noticing my scowl, he said, "Sorry. Sore subject, huh?"

"It is."

Jeff squeezed my shoulder, and I hated the gesture. Everyone was pitying me, the stupid idiot who kept on getting cheated on. High school was long over, but the rest stayed the same.

"Guys, Liam is here."

"Hey there, stranger." Jenn beamed at me.

I shook Charlie's hand and acknowledged the girls with a nod. I didn't lie when I told Jeff I didn't want to be around people.

"I'm gonna take it." I nodded toward the half-empty bottle of Jack on the coffee table. "Got smokes?"

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "Since when?"

"Not gonna answer."

I grabbed the bottle and the pack of cigarettes Charlie handed me. He was the only one smoking of all our friends. Sport and that shit didn't mix well, but I wasn't the guy to make good decisions tonight.

Not when the dull ache in the left part of my chest kept reminding me of Sky being cozy with her ex.

I went out to the balcony and leaned against the wall, twisting off the cap of the bottle and taking a long swig.

Then, I fetched the lighter from the small table Jeff had on the balcony and pulled a cigarette out of the pack, lighting it once it was between my lips.

I never smoked in front of Tim. In fact, I only did it when I drank or after I fucked. The first time was when my mom got diagnosed, and we knew she would leave us soon. I didn't know how to cope, and being the fifteen-year-old kid I was, I turned to the shit that was now currently in my mouth.

I forgot the taste. It was disgusting, but what I'd seen at that fucking restaurant was way worse.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out and silenced it, seeing that Sky was calling. Why the fuck did she pretend she cared?

I inhaled the smoke and took a swig straight from the bottle. I would finish that shit alone and then fall into a drunken slumber until the following day. What a nice plan for a Friday - better than staying in bed with the girl who screwed me over for a prick who didn't deserve her.

The sound of the balcony door opening had me swivel my head around. Jenn walked inside, shivering at the cold I was numb to.

I didn't offer her my jacket. She wasn't Sky. I wished she were.

"Wanna talk?" Jenn nodded to the bottle and the cigarette.

I shook my head and went on smoking. She knew me well enough to know I wasn't the talking kind. I was the fucking kind, but not the talking one.

"Come on, spill it," she insisted.

I groaned. "Go back in there, Jenn. I'm not in the mood."

Jenn shrugged. "We know you're not, that's why I'm here as your friend. You are being a party pooper; we cannot let you sulk here alone."

"I saw my girl in a restaurant with her ex. Enough info? Now go."

Jenn grabbed a plastic chair and turned it around before plopping down on it. "Not enough info. Tell me more."

"None of your business, Jenn. Leave."

"Liam Dupont, you're not an asshole. Don't pretend you are. I'm not leaving."

I went on smoking without saying anything, hoping she would get tired. She didn't. I finally cave in and told her things. Not everything and nothing intimate because even in my hurt, drunken state I couldn't do it to Sky.

Jenn sighed, staring at her hands. "You're a dick, and I really thought you weren't."

Not knowing how else to react, I laughed.

"Yes, you are. Do you really think a guy that horrible would be someone Sky would go back to? Why the hell didn't you come near her?"

"To see them kiss, Jenn? What am I, a damn masochist? It hurt enough to see his hand on her neck and his face close to hers."

"It could be nothing, Liam. He could have done that on purpose and against her will. You ran away and didn't let her explain herself. That's what assholes do. They assume things and always blame the girl."

"I know what I saw."

"And you heard him talk shit about her and disrespect her in front of his colleagues. You punched his face. Maybe she couldn't walk away from him. You don't even know what happened. She could be there with someone else, or run into him. God, you guys are so fucking stupid sometimes."

"That's too much of a coincidence. If she was there with someone else, how the fuck would he happen to be in the same restaurant?"

Jenn shrugged. "Maybe he's a crazy stalker like my ex was. He kept on popping up wherever I was, intimidating me until I filed a restraining order against him. And just like you don't believe Sky, nobody believed me."

"I'm sorry, " I muttered. "I didn't know."

"That's okay. I just saw the two of you, I saw how you looked at her and kissed her, and Sky didn't pay attention to anyone but you at that party. She wouldn't cheat, Liam, and if you think she would, the problem is you. Maybe you have to trust her rather than a dickhead who did nothing but hurt you both. I've known you for a while, but I'm on your girl's side here. Think about it."

Jenn left, leaving me with the booze, the cigarettes and my thoughts.

What if she was right? Was I really an asshole?

I took another swig and closed my eyes, feeling way too drunk already.

I would talk to her. I needed to do it, but it hurt too much to do it tonight.